ID :
119332
Thu, 04/29/2010 - 16:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/119332
The shortlink copeid
PM warns of SAsia's marginalisation if members don't cooperate
Priyanka Tikoo and Ajay Kaul
Thimphu, Apr 28 (PTI) Likening 25-year-old SAARC to a
"glass half-empty", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Wednesday warned that the region faces the risk of
"marginalisation and stagnation" if the member countries fail
to build it as a grouping that is better connected and better
empowered.
Addressing the 16th South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit here, he announced
setting up of 'India Endowment for Climate Change in South
Asia' to help member countries in meeting urgent adaptation
and capacity building needs.
He also proposed setting up of Climate Innovation
Centres in South Asia to develop sustainable energy
technologies based on indigenous resource endowments.
Singh said there was a need for the member countries
to "re-discover our shared heritage and build our common
future" as he pitched for freer movement of goods, services
and people across South Asia.
He regretted that the share of intra-regional trade
and investment in total trade and investment flows in the
region was far below that of East and South-East Asia and much
less the potential and said the 21st century cannot be an
Asian century unless South Asia marches together.
"I have a vision of inclusive growth in South Asia
both within our countries and for the region of South Asia as
a whole," Singh told the Summit attended by leaders from
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and Maldives.
He underlined the need for translating regional
institutions into activities, conventions into programmes and
official statements into popular sentiments.
"Regional and sub-regional imbalances in growth affect
all of us in varying degrees, and have led to social unrest,"
he said, adding "This will require much greater attention in
the future, with an emphasis on development at the grassroots
level."
Pressing for greater regional cooperation, he said it
should enable freer movement of people, of goods, of services
and of ideas.
"We must ask ourselves what kind of South Asia we wish
to create for our present and future generations? At this
anniversary Summit we should renew our compact to build a
region that is better connected, better empowered, better fed
and better educated," he said.
Singh said South Asia can once again become part of
global trading routes and networks and "influence the global
discourse" on issues of concern to the region.
"If we do not, we run the risk of marginalisation and
stagnation."
Noting that SAARC member countries are able to
cooperate individually as members in various international
fora, he said, it was, however, "unfortunate that, together,
the people of South Asia do not have the voice they should and
could have in the global polity."
He said over the last two-and-a-half decades South
Asian sub-continent has been witness to much progress.
"Yet, each one of our countries, and our region as a
whole, has a long way to go in fulfilling the aspirations of
our people," he said.
"In looking back at these two and a half decades we
can claim the glass is half full, and compliment ourselves,
or, we can admit the glass is half empty and challenge
ourselves," Singh said.
He said the SAARC countries should "challenge
ourselves by acknowledging that the glass of regional
cooperation, regional development and regional integration is
half empty."
Singh said that by rising to this challenge, "we will
not only help ourselves but also become a net contributor to
global economic prosperity."
The Prime Minister said SAARC has created institutions
for regional cooperation, "but we have not yet empowered them
adequately to enable them to be more pro-active."
He referred to the remarks of the then Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the first SAARC Summit in Dhaka in
1985, where he described the establishment of the body as an
act of faith.
"Based on our experience so far, we can affirm that
this was also an act of great foresight and statesmanship,"
Singh said.
"We have opened new windows of cooperation," he said,
while describing the SAARC Development Fund, the Food Bank,
the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the South Asian
University as "examples of new institutions that will knit our
region more closely together." PTI PYK/AKK
RDM
Thimphu, Apr 28 (PTI) Likening 25-year-old SAARC to a
"glass half-empty", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Wednesday warned that the region faces the risk of
"marginalisation and stagnation" if the member countries fail
to build it as a grouping that is better connected and better
empowered.
Addressing the 16th South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit here, he announced
setting up of 'India Endowment for Climate Change in South
Asia' to help member countries in meeting urgent adaptation
and capacity building needs.
He also proposed setting up of Climate Innovation
Centres in South Asia to develop sustainable energy
technologies based on indigenous resource endowments.
Singh said there was a need for the member countries
to "re-discover our shared heritage and build our common
future" as he pitched for freer movement of goods, services
and people across South Asia.
He regretted that the share of intra-regional trade
and investment in total trade and investment flows in the
region was far below that of East and South-East Asia and much
less the potential and said the 21st century cannot be an
Asian century unless South Asia marches together.
"I have a vision of inclusive growth in South Asia
both within our countries and for the region of South Asia as
a whole," Singh told the Summit attended by leaders from
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and Maldives.
He underlined the need for translating regional
institutions into activities, conventions into programmes and
official statements into popular sentiments.
"Regional and sub-regional imbalances in growth affect
all of us in varying degrees, and have led to social unrest,"
he said, adding "This will require much greater attention in
the future, with an emphasis on development at the grassroots
level."
Pressing for greater regional cooperation, he said it
should enable freer movement of people, of goods, of services
and of ideas.
"We must ask ourselves what kind of South Asia we wish
to create for our present and future generations? At this
anniversary Summit we should renew our compact to build a
region that is better connected, better empowered, better fed
and better educated," he said.
Singh said South Asia can once again become part of
global trading routes and networks and "influence the global
discourse" on issues of concern to the region.
"If we do not, we run the risk of marginalisation and
stagnation."
Noting that SAARC member countries are able to
cooperate individually as members in various international
fora, he said, it was, however, "unfortunate that, together,
the people of South Asia do not have the voice they should and
could have in the global polity."
He said over the last two-and-a-half decades South
Asian sub-continent has been witness to much progress.
"Yet, each one of our countries, and our region as a
whole, has a long way to go in fulfilling the aspirations of
our people," he said.
"In looking back at these two and a half decades we
can claim the glass is half full, and compliment ourselves,
or, we can admit the glass is half empty and challenge
ourselves," Singh said.
He said the SAARC countries should "challenge
ourselves by acknowledging that the glass of regional
cooperation, regional development and regional integration is
half empty."
Singh said that by rising to this challenge, "we will
not only help ourselves but also become a net contributor to
global economic prosperity."
The Prime Minister said SAARC has created institutions
for regional cooperation, "but we have not yet empowered them
adequately to enable them to be more pro-active."
He referred to the remarks of the then Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the first SAARC Summit in Dhaka in
1985, where he described the establishment of the body as an
act of faith.
"Based on our experience so far, we can affirm that
this was also an act of great foresight and statesmanship,"
Singh said.
"We have opened new windows of cooperation," he said,
while describing the SAARC Development Fund, the Food Bank,
the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the South Asian
University as "examples of new institutions that will knit our
region more closely together." PTI PYK/AKK
RDM
